BILL NUMBER: SB 829	CHAPTERED  09/07/99

	CHAPTER   351
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 23, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   MAY 13, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   APRIL 7, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Figueroa

                        FEBRUARY 25, 1999

   An act to amend Section 19853.5 of, and to amend and renumber
Section 19846A of, the Business and Professions Code, and to amend
Section 62 of Chapter 867 of the Statutes of 1997, relating to
gambling, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 829, Figueroa.  Gambling establishments:  provisional licenses.

   (1) Existing law provides that every person who is required by
statute or regulation to hold a state license shall obtain the
license prior to engaging in the activity or occupying the position
with respect to which the license is required.
   This bill would provide that, except as otherwise provided by
statute or regulation, every person who is required by statute or
regulation to hold a state gambling license shall obtain the license
prior to engaging in the activity or occupying the position with
respect to which the license is required.
   (2) Existing law requires applicants for state gambling licenses,
approvals, and permits to make various disclosures, and provides that
the division shall furnish applicants with supplemental forms for
the purpose of providing information on the applicant's personal
history, habits, character, criminal record, financial affairs, and
other matter.
   This bill would require applicants to additionally submit 2 sets
of fingerprints on forms supplied by the division, and would
authorize the division to submit one fingerprint card to the United
States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
   (3) Existing law generally provides that the California Gambling
Control Commission, in consultation and cooperation with the Division
of Gambling Control, is vested with the authority to approve or deny
gambling licenses on specified grounds.  Existing law also provides,
however, that persons who had held or applied for a valid
registration issued pursuant to the law in effect prior to the
effective date of the act shall be deemed to hold a provisional
license, as defined, until summoned by the division to apply for a
gambling license under the act.  Existing law also provides that if
the division does not so summon a person holding a provisional
license prior to December 31, 1998, it shall, upon the request of the
holder of the provisional license, and upon the payment of specified
fees, extend the provisional license until December 31, 1999.
   This bill would authorize the division to extend a provisional
license, if, prior to the expiration of that license, the holder
requests an extension, all applicable fees are paid, and the
provisional licensee's gambling establishment is located in a
jurisdiction with a gambling ordinance that complies with the
Gambling Control Act.
   (4)  This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 19846A of the Business and Professions Code is
amended and renumbered to read:
   19846.   Except as otherwise provided by statute or regulation,
every person who, by statute or regulation, is required to hold a
state license shall obtain the license prior to engaging in the
activity or occupying the position with respect to which the license
is required.  Every person who, by order of the commission, is
required to apply for a gambling license or a finding of suitability
shall file the application within 30 calendar days after receipt of
the order.
  SEC. 2.  Section 19853.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   19853.5.  The division shall furnish to the applicant supplemental
forms, which the applicant shall complete and file with the
division.  These supplemental forms shall require, but shall not be
limited to requiring, complete information and details with respect
to the applicant's personal history, habits, character, criminal
record, business activities, financial affairs, and business
associates, covering at least a 10-year period immediately preceding
the date of filing of the application.  Each applicant shall submit
two sets of fingerprints on forms provided by the division.  The
division may submit one fingerprint card to the United States Federal
Bureau of Investigation.
  SEC. 3.  Section 62 of Chapter 867 of the Statutes of 1997 is
amended to read:
  Sec. 62.  (a) For the purposes of this section, "provisional
license" means a license that is either granted by operation of law
pursuant to this section, or is issued by the Director of the
Division of Gambling Control pursuant to this section, and authorizes
the holder to own and operate a gambling establishment, as defined
by the Gambling Control Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
19800) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code), as
enacted by this act.  The issuance of a provisional license creates
no vested right to the issuance of a state gambling license.  A
provisional license is held subject to all terms and conditions under
which a state gambling license is held pursuant to the Gambling
Control Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 19800) of Division 8
of the Business and Professions Code), as enacted by this act.
   (b) (1) Every person possessing a valid registration, issued
pursuant to former Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 19800) of
Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, as it read
immediately prior to its repeal by this act, and which expires as of
January 1, 1998, shall be deemed, as of January 1, 1998, to hold a
provisional license to conduct those activities authorized by the
registration.
   (2) (A) Every owner of a gaming club who possesses a valid
registration issued pursuant to former Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 19800) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, as
it read immediately prior to its repeal by this act, if the license
has expired as of January 1, 1998, shall be deemed to hold a
provisional license to own, manage, or operate all or a part of
another gambling establishment, or of other gambling establishments,
if all of the following conditions are satisfied with respect to the
other gambling establishment or establishments:
   (i) The gambling establishment, on January 1, 1998, was owned by a
person holding a provisional license pursuant to this subdivision.
   (ii) Acquisition of the ownership interest is completed no later
than June 30, 1998.
   (iii) The applicant has deposited all moneys as required pursuant
to Section 19855 of the Business and Professions Code, as enacted by
this act.
   (iv) The applicant has deposited with the division a license fee
calculated as the amount specified for the appropriate level of
operation in subdivision (a) of Section 19941 of the Business and
Professions Code, as enacted by this act.
   (B) A provisional license granted in respect to a gambling
establishment by operation of subparagraph (A) shall expire on July
30, 1998, unless, on or before that date, the holder of the
provisional license files an application for a gambling license with
respect to that gambling establishment under the Gambling Control Act
(Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 19800) of Division 8 of the
Business and Professions Code), as enacted by this act.
   (3) Until a provisional licensee is summoned pursuant to
subdivision (e), no other state gambling license and no key employee
license shall be required in connection with the operation that is
owned, managed, or operated by a person holding a provisional
license.  Nothing in this paragraph shall relieve any person who, on
or after the effective date of this act, acquires an ownership
interest in a gambling establishment, from the provisions of Section
19840 of the Business and Professions Code, as enacted by this act.
Upon payment of the fees described in this section, the provisional
license shall be valid until the earlier of the following events:
   (A) December 31, 1998.
   (B) The granting or denial of an application for a gambling
license.
   (c) Until July 1, 1998, the Director of the Division of Gambling
Control may issue a provisional license to any person who submitted a
completed application for registration pursuant to former Chapter 5
(commencing with Section 19800) of Division 8 of the Business and
Professions Code, as it read immediately prior to its repeal by this
act, if all of the following are true:
   (1) The director determines that the applicant is not disqualified
based on any of the reasons for which an application for
registration could have been denied or revoked under former Section
19809 or 19810 of the Business and Professions Code as those sections
read immediately prior to repeal by this act.
   (2) The applicant has paid all fees required pursuant to Section
19855 of the Business and Professions Code, as enacted by this act,
less any fees paid pursuant to Section 19808 of the Business and
Professions Code, as that section read immediately prior to its
repeal by this act.
   (3) The applicant has deposited with the division a license fee
calculated as the amount specified for each level of operation in
subdivision (b) of Section 19941 of the Business and Professions
Code, as enacted by this act.
   (d) Every person holding a provisional license pursuant to
subdivision (b), who desires that the provisional license be
converted to a gambling license under the Gambling Control Act
enacted by this act shall, no later than January 31, 1998, deposit
with the Division of Gambling Control a license fee calculated as the
amount specified for the appropriate level of operation in
subdivision (b) of Section 19941 of the Business and Professions
Code, as enacted by this act.
   (e) (1) Commencing July 1, 1998, the Division of Gambling Control
shall summon persons holding provisional licenses for the purpose of
applying for gambling licenses under the Gambling Control Act enacted
by this act.  Thereafter, except as otherwise provided herein, the
license application process shall proceed as an initial application
for licensure in accordance with the provisions of the Gambling
Control Act, including the advance deposit of fees for investigation
of the application or applications, if any.
   (2) The division shall not require an applicant who holds a
provisional license pursuant to subdivision (b) to furnish, in
connection with an application for licensure, information or
documentation that is presently in the possession of the Department
of Justice by virtue of having conducted a prior investigation of the
applicant pursuant to former Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
19800) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, as it read
immediately prior to its repeal by this act.
   (f) If an application for a gambling license is granted, and upon
payment of the fees specified in the Gambling Control Act, a gambling
license may be issued to the owner of a gambling enterprise, to
expire not later than 12 months thereafter.  If this license is
issued prior to December 31, 1998, the licensee shall be entitled to
a credit, if any, for the fee paid pursuant to subdivision (d).
   (g) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 19847, there shall
be a rebuttable presumption that every natural person who, on
December 31, 1997, holds a valid and unexpired registration issued
pursuant to former Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 19800) of
Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, as it read
immediately prior to its repeal by this act, is suitable for
licensure pursuant to this act.
   (h) If an application for a gambling license is denied, the
applicant shall be entitled to a pro rata refund of the fee paid
pursuant to subdivision (d), and any unused deposit of investigative
fees.
   (i) The Division of Gambling Control may extend a provisional
license if, prior to the expiration of the license, the holder of the
license requests an extension, pays all applicable fees, and the
provisional licensee's gambling establishment is located in a city,
county, or city and county that has a gambling ordinance that
complies with the Gambling Control Act.  Thereafter, the process
described in subdivisions (e), (f), and (g) shall apply in similar
fashion.
   (j) No application for a state gambling license may be submitted
to the Division of Gambling Control prior to July 1, 1998.  It is the
intent of the Legislature that the division and the Gambling Control
Board shall be fully operative by July 1, 1998.
  SEC. 4.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.  The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to provide continuity in the regulation and oversight of
provisional licensees by the Division of Gambling Control at the
earliest possible time, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.
